Two Brothers Overlooked
by cleverlion21
Summary: "I had hoped you would notice. I had hoped that for once you would look closer, instead of taking everything at face value." When the pronouncement of Apollo's punishment after the defeat of Gaia takes an unexpected turn, the Fates decide they've had enough of everyone's ignorance. They thought they knew Percy and Apollo? Well, they're in for a hell of a surprise.
1. Chapter 1

**Two Brothers Overlooked**

– I do not own Percy Jackson. All rights belong to Rick Riordan. –

 **Chapter 1**

It was a few days after the end of the second Giant War. Though they may have won, the losses were keenly felt by everybody. The rebuilding had started, but it would be a long time before the wounds would truly heal. The last days had been taxing: finding the dead, identifying them, and burning their shrouds. Now that the ceremonies were over, Zeus had called everyone together for a council meeting to announce Apollo's punishment.

After a long speech proclaiming the Gods' accomplishments and blaming Apollo for all of their mistakes, he finally revealed the punishment. "And so, I have come to the following decision. For unintentionally but foolishly aiding Gaia, Phoebus Apollo will have his powers bound. He will be banished to the mortal world until such time as he has redeemed himself."

Having said that, he threw his bolt at Apollo, who was standing in the middle of the throne room. For a moment the Sun God glowed blue, then he vanished. Where he had stood, his bow remained, still glowing blue. Then, to everyone's confusion,Percy Jackson stepped out of the crowd. He knelt in front of the bow with a smile. Placing both hands on it, he spoke, "Welcome to the family, brother. Welcome home." For a moment, the blue glow transferred to him. Then it disappeared completely.

Just as Percy rose and turned to leave, Zeus called out to him. "What was that all about?"

Percy, who had by now reached the doors, turned back around. "We just formally welcomed him into the family," he said, as if stating the obvious. When Zeus stared at him uncomprehendingly, he looked around and noted the complete confusion more or less visible on everyone's faces. "You're telling me you meant all that rubbish?", he asked incredulously, "You really weren't just trying to do this the only way possible while enjoying a little drama queen moment? You honestly wanted to punish him?"

"Of course", Zeus replied, "we had to punish him for helping Gaia in the war."

Percy heaved a great sigh, and with it he seamed to change. Gone was the endearingly dense, happy-go-lucky hero who could make everybody laugh in even the most tense of situations with his stupid comments. The person in his place held untold wisdom in his eyes, but also seemed weary, as if he had seen to much. When he spoke, the disappointment was clear in his voice and seemed to hit everyone like a physical blow. "I had hoped that you would notice. I had hoped that for once you would look closer, instead of taking everything at face value. I clearly hoped in vain. I should have known that it was foolish to believe you would ever change." And with those parting words he turned and walked away, leaving the assembled gods, demigods, legacies, and nature spirits in stunned silence.


	2. Chapter 2

**Two Brothers Overlooked**

– I do not own Percy Jackson. All rights belong to Rick Riordan. –

 **Chapter 2**

It seemed an age had passed before the silence was finally broken by an outraged Zeus. "How dare he", he sputtered, "How dare that insolent sea spawn accuse _us_ of being blind. How dare he spread such lies..."

"He spoke the truth." Everybody turned in surprise to see who had spoken. There, in the middle of the throne room, stood the three Fates. "Perseus Jackson was not lying. We believe it is beyond time you understood, and seeing as you do not seem to be capable of doing so on your own, the only way is for us to show you."

They clapped their hands, and chairs appeared, arranged in a half-circle around a screen hanging off the wall. "There is a lot you do not understand, and it revolves mostly around two people: Perseus and Apollo. Therefore we are going to show you some memories of their lives, so that maybe at the end of this you will understand who they truly are, and how much they have really done for you." With that they clapped their hands again and vanished, as the first memory started to play.

 _The screen shows a clearing in a forest. "DELOS" is printed in bold letters in the bottom-left corner. The view zooms in to reveal a little Artemis and Apollo arguing. "I hate you. I hate you. I hate you." little Artemis screams and runs off._

 _Little Apollo breaks down crying. Someone comes up and holds him as he cries himself to sleep._

"I didn't think the memories would start that far back." Athena commented. "But we can certainly count on them being in chronological order."

"I remember this," Artemis said thoughtfully. "Apollo was very quiet and thoughtful for a few days afterwards. He never did tell us why. Though whoever that was at the end may have something to do with it. I certainly never saw them in that time."

"Maybe it's Percy," Nico suggested. "The Fates did say that this was about both Apollo and him, so it would make sense."

Thalia hit him upside the head. "Don't be stupid death breath. Percy won't be born for quite a few centuries yet."

 _A new scene shows a cove with the forest going down to the water. The stranger is sitting on the shore, close to the water, with Apollo's head in his lap, his fingers softly stroking the golden hair. For the first time, a clear picture of him is shown. With his windblown black hair, lean build, tan, and sea-green eyes swirling like the oceans, he looks remarkably like the man Percy Jackson could grow to be in a few more years._

 _Apollo stirs and sleepily rubs his eyes. He looks around confusedly. Then, noticing the Percy look-alike, he jumps up and backs away._

" _Who are you?" he asks wearily._

 _The stranger smiles kindly. "I am Perseus, and I swear on the River Styx that I mean neither you nor your family any harm." Thunder booms in the clear sky, but the now revealed Perseus remains unharmed._

 _Apollo visibly relaxes at that, the tenseness leaving his face and shoulders."What do you want? Why are we here? And where is here?"_

" _We are still on Delos. I merely moved you to a different place on the island. I felt the clearing wasn't the best place considering what happened before I found you." Apollo winces, his sisters parting words echoing in his mind, and Perseus gives him a compassionate look before continuing. "As for what I want? Well, I've been searching for you for a long time."_

 _The surprise is clearly visible on Apollo's face. "Me? Why would anyone be looking for me?"_

 _Perseus pats the ground beside him, a serious look on his face. "Sit down. This may take a while, and it isn't going to be an easy conversation."_

 _Apollo sits down, looking at Perseus confusedly._

 _For a moment, Perseus simply stares silently ahead. Then he sighs. "I said I was looking for you, but that isn't quite the truth. You see, until I saw you in that clearing, I had no idea who exactly I was searching for. I didn't know your name, what you looked like, what your powers were, what kind of immortal you were. Heck, I didn't even know whether you had been born yet. All I knew was that I had to find you. Why? Because there is something you have to know about, and with my personal experience, I am the person best suited to tell you." He pauses, seemingly unsure how to continue._

 _Apollo looks at him expectantly. "What do I have to know about?"_

 _Perseus looks at him grimly. "There is no easy way to say this. You have been chosen to bear a rare but extremely dangerous curse."_

 _At first Apollo stares at him, uncomprehendingly, but as it sinks in, as he realises what the man next to him just said, his first reaction is denial. He wants to scream, to run away, to shake Perseus and tell him it can't be true, that he has to be lying. But he doesn't. He does none of those things. Because, for some reason, for some strange and totally incomprehensible reason, he trusts Perseus. Trusts that he isn't lying, that he really is telling the truth. He trusts that Perseus means him no harm, trusts that he will instead do everything in his power to help, even do the impossible and go beyond that._

 _So he takes a deep breath, and steels himself for what will probably be a story that will sound utterly fantastical and impossible to believe. Later, he will look back on that moment, the moment everything changed, and realise that he had_ no idea _. "You said you had experience with the curse?"_

" _I was close to someone who had to bear it."_

" _Who was it?"_

 _Perseus seems hesitant to answer, afraid even. "My father." He halts, takes a deep breath, steels himself and goes on. "My father, the Titan Lord Kronos."_

The throne room was in complete uproar, with everyone trying to comprehend what they had just heard.

"Impossible", Zeus shouted in outrage, "Father had no more children."

"Yes," said Poseidon, for once agreeing with his brother. "I'd really like to know why someone who looks remarkably like my grown up son would, with the same name even, is claiming to be our brother."

"Maybe he is." Everyone turned to stare at Athena in complete shock and Zeus opened his mouth to argue. "I mean it, father. Yes, you know that he had no other children than the six of you since Hestia's birth, but what about before that? We have no sure records for that time. For that matter, we don't even know who his mother is. He said that his father was Kronos, but he said no such thing about Rhea. As for the fact that he looks like Barnacle Beard's son, I have no idea. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."


	3. Chapter 3

**Two Brothers Overlooked**

– I do not own Percy Jackson. All rights belong to Rick Riordan. –

 **Chapter 3**

 _Apollo is shocked. No, shocked doesn't cut it. He is terrified. He has of course heard of the evil Titan who swallowed his children, the gods, because he was afraid of their power, has heard horror stories of what would happen if he were to ever come back. And this man, Perseus, is his son? More importantly, a son who apparently didn't get swallowed by his father, and didn't fight him either. He wants to run, to find his mother, his sister, to warn them, and then snuggle into the covers while his mother tells him not to worry, that his father is taking care of it. But some instinct, deeply buried so he barely notices it normally, tells him not to. It tells him to wait, to stay, and, more importantly, to listen to what the other has to say. So he takes deep, calming breaths, until he is finally able to ask, "You're a son of Kronos, the evil Titan dad and his siblings defeated?"_

 _Perseus sighs."He wasn't always like that, you know?" Apollo looks at him patiently, waiting for him to continue. "My father, Kronos, he wasn't always that mad, power-hungry psychopath everyone talks about nowadays. In fact, he was once one of the kindest, most understanding men I ever knew."_

" _What happened?"_

 _Perseus smiles bitterly. "It's complicated, but it starts with his mother. His mother and a curse. My father told me quite a few stories of his childhood. It was a good one. His mother was one of the kindest people out there, wouldn't hurt a fly. She cared for him and his siblings, treated them all with love, fairly and equally, which, with twelve children, isn't always that easy. But she managed. As if that wasn't enough, in the time not spent looking after them she would travel around the world, helping anyone in need and asking for nothing in return. From the hardest job, like tracking down a serial killer, to the most simple thing, like helping to weed the garden, she would do it. She would do it, with a smile on her face and be gone before anyone had the chance to thank her. But then Gaia was burdened with a curse. She could see everything happening on the face of the earth. Everything. And while quite a lot of good things did happen, there were plenty more that were bad. Theft, rape, abuse, murder, wars. The list went on and on. As if that wasn't bad enough, she couldn't interfere with anything she saw. She would see someone being raped, abused, or murdered in all detail, and couldn't do anything about it. She couldn't even take her mind off it by doing the small things she used to do. No more feeding beggars, helping build a well, or simply helping a wife in the garden. That would be interfering, after all. It was too much. Slowly but surely she started going mad. In the end she made her children kill their father and went to sleep._

" _When my father first started ruling, he was a great king. A just king. He liked to visit his realm disguised as a mortal, and, after some time, he fell in love. They had a son, and he offered to turn her immortal, to make her his queen, but she declined, knowing it would destroy her. The first fifteen years my mother brought me up. Father had his duties as king of course, but he always visited, was always there for me. I couldn't have asked for a better family. When I was sixteen I learnt who my father really was, and he started training me. When my mother died, he was heartbroken, but his sister, Rhea, helped him through the grief and he fell in love with her. She became his queen and I fully moved in at the palace. We didn't tell anyone I was his son, of course, because father had his fair share of enemies, and while, unlike demigods, demititans aren't fully mortal, we also aren't fully immortal either. We're partially immortal. That means we won't die of sickness or old age and will actually stop ageing once we have reached our prime, but we can still be killed. So instead of telling everyone about the vulnerable demititan son of Kronos, I was known as his apprentice. Despite all that, Rhea accepted me as her son and we lived together happily as a family. For some time everything was perfect. My Stepmother and Father were even considering having children. And it would have stayed that way, if it wasn't for the curse._

" _The thing about that curse is that it is an integral part of the universe. Because of that it can't function long without having somebody to bear the curse before it falls apart. That time had run its course, and the curse passed on to father. As the Titan of time, he saw everything that happens in time. He saw all in the past, present, and future. And, like his mother, he wasn't able to change a thing. He didn't last long. But before his time was up, before he went completely mad, he called for me one last time. He explained everything about the curse to me, told me that after he cracked it would be passed on and that I would have to help whomever it would befall next. Then, he told me to leave now and never come back. And, as I prepared to leave, he called out to me and told me one more thing." Perseus closes his eyes and seems to choke on the words. "He told me that, from this day on, my father was dead."_

Everyone sat in shocked silence, trying to comprehend what they had just heard. Both Kronos and Gaia were originally good people? It just seemed unbelievable. But Artemis was focusing on something completely different. "If the story is true, then that is probably the curse he mentioned Apollo having at the very beginning. You know, when Apollo asked why he'd been looking for him."


	4. Chapter 4

**Two Brothers Overlooked**

– I do not own Percy Jackson. All rights belong to Rick Riordan. –

 **Chapter 4**

 _They sit in silence for some time after that, Perseus lost in memory and Apollo digesting all he heard. Finally, Apollo steers the conversation back to the reason Perseus came looking for him in the first place. "I assume that means I'm the next person with the curse."_

 _Perseus looks at him carefully. "Yes and no."_

 _For some reason, Apollo feels dread pool his stomach. "Explain," he bites out tersely._

" _Well, the last two times people had to bear the curse, they went completely mad to the point of harming innocents. In the long run, this obviously isn't such a good thing, so it seems the Fates developed a plan to evenly split the curse between two individuals. Now, at first glance Kronos and Gaia were pretty much complete opposites. As such they had very different ways of coping with the curse. Well, coping with the curse when they first got it, before they lost the battle and turned insane. But, if you looked closer, you would realise that while their personalities were true opposites, their selves – the very things that defined them – were one and the same. I reckon the Fates believe that if Kronos and Gaia had had the curse at the same time, their opposite personalities and ways of coping would have counterbalanced each other while their same selves would have forged a deep connection that allowed them to be there for and support each other. The combination of both could have slowed the process of becoming insane considerably or even stopped it completely. Taking this into consideration, the two people the curse was to be split between couldn't be just any random people. No, they had to be opposites, and yet share a strong connection."_

 _At that Apollo goes completely white. "No," he says, frantically shaking his head. "Please no. It can't be. IT CAN'T BE."_

 _Perseus looks at him sadly. "Twins would be the ideal solution. As you probably guessed, you, being the god of the sun, will soon see everything under the sun without being able to interfere. Additionally, as the goddess of the moon, Artemis will see everything happening under the moon, but won't be able to change a thing."_

Once again everyone sat in shocked silence, before turning to Artemis, who was staring at the screen confusedly. Noticing their stares, she shook her head. "I don't know what he's on about, but I can't have the curse, otherwise my hunters wouldn't exist. I don't know about you, but I'd certainly count that as changing things that are happening."

 _Apollo is distraught. "Please tell me it's not true. It can't be true."_

" _I'm sorry Apollo, but it's true." The scream of despair Apollo lets loose is so heartbreaking that Perseus can't stop the words that follow. "However, there might be another way."_

 _Apollo looks up, suddenly, with such desperate hope that Perseus cannot bare to look into his eyes. "It will probably destroy you, and Artemis will never truly understand you, but yes, there might be another way."_

 _Apollo practically throws himself before Perseus into the sand. "Tell me", he begs, "tell me."_

 _Perseus looks at him carefully. "Are you sure? Are you really sure?"_

 _Apollo looks at him with cold, hard determination. "Anything", he says, "Anything for her."_

 _Perseus takes a deep breath. "You have the curse. There's nothing that can be done about it, it's already started. But for Artemis it should only set in on Olympus, when she officially receives her domain. If you touch her then, at exactly the right moment, her part of the curse might be transferred to you. But even if it works, it isn't without risks. Like Kronos and Gaia before you, you are receiving the curse slowly over time. The same would happen with the part of the curse you receive from her. If you turn insane, it would move on, as always. The difference this time would be that there is already a person marked to receive the curse. So, instead of someone new being marked and given the curse slowly over time, the person who is already marked would receive the whole curse in one fell swoop. And no matter how strong your sister is, there is no way she would be able to cope with that."_

Into the stunned silence – and wasn't that becoming a habit – Artemis spoke in a small voice. "That would explain it."

"Explain what?" Ares asked, looking at her in confusion.

Athena sighed, "The curse, you idiot. That would explain why Artemis doesn't have the curse."


	5. Chapter 5

**Two Brothers Overlooked**

– I do not own Percy Jackson. All rights belong to Rick Riordan. –

 **Chapter 5**

 _A new scene shows Olympus at night a few years later. Apollo has just officially received his domains and now it is Artemis' turn. Just as she is pronounced goddess of the moon, Apollo playfully pokes her in the side. Though she keeps silent as protocol demands, it is obvious how furious she is. But, unnoticed by anyone but Apollo, a small silver spark springs over from where he touches her to his finger. For moment he grins triumphantly. Then his look turns to utter panic and he flashes out._

Artemis sighed, "He really did it then, though I wish I'd known. I didn't speak to him for months afterwards. However, I would still like to know why he flashed out like that."

"Patience, sister", Athena replied, "If things continue like they have been, then we are about to find out. Although, judging by his expression, it can't be anything good."

 _He flashes into a dark clearing with the only light given off by the full moon overhead. It seems peaceful, but then a groan shatters the tranquil silence. There, on the ground, Perseus lies dying in his own blood._

 _Apollo runs over and drops down by his side. "No", he mutters panicked, "NO! Please, Perseus, don't leave me. You can't leave me. I need you."_

" _Shh," Perseus whispers, gently pressing a finger to his lips. "You took the curse?"_

 _Apollo nods, tears streaming down his face._

 _Perseus smiles sadly. "I always knew you would, since the day I met you. You're a great person, Apollo. Never forget it."_

" _No", Apollo cries desperately. "Don't go. I need you. I can't do this alone."_

" _Yes you can. I know you can." Perseus whispers back. "But you won't have to. It may be my time to die now, but that doesn't mean I can never live again. I'll be there for you when you need me most. And later, in my third life, we'll finally truly be family." And with that he dies, a small smile on his face._

 _Apollo spends the whole night crying softly by Perseus' side. As day begins to break, he gathers everything needed for the last rites. Then, as the first rays of sun light up the sky, he finally says his goodbye. Turning to the rising sun, he smiles softly. "Family. I'd like that."_

"It really was Kelp Head," Thalia shouted in surprise.

"I told you so," Nico replied, grinning, and dodged the fist about to collide with his head.

"What I'm interested in, is how he knows what's going to happen in his future lives," said Annabeth, deep in thought.

"I don't know about that, but the comment about family definitely has something to do with what happened today," her mother added.


	6. Chapter 6

**Two Brothers Overlooked**

– I do not own Percy Jackson. All rights belong to Rick Riordan. –

 **Chapter 6**

" _The next few scenes play through swiftly: Apollo forced to stand by watching as Orion rapes a woman, Apollo trying everything to show Artemis who Orion truly is, but failing spectacularly. Finally, Apollo learning of Orion's plan to rape his sister, and, in his desperation, tricking her into shooting him._

" _How could you?" Artemis shouts after placing Orion in the stars. "How could you do this to me? I hate you, Apollo. I hate you. You are no brother of mine." With that she flashes out, not giving him a chance to explain._

 _Breaking down, Apollo flashes to a bar and tries to drink the pain away. As his consciousness fades, he can feel someone carrying him up the stairs and into one of the rooms._

Hermes whistles, "Damn, what a way to thank him for saving you."

Artemis looks away, guilt clearly visible on her face.

 _He wakes to his head in someone's lap, fingers gently carding through his hair. He stares up into familiar caring sea-green eyes and a small, sad smile framed by messy black hair. For a moment, elation surges through him, before he remembers the past day and starts crying heaving, heartbroken sobs. Perseus holds him comfortingly until he calms down. They sit in content silence until he asks "Did I do the right thing?" in a small voice._

 _Perseus smiles softly. "Of course you did Pollo. You couldn't interfere directly, but you had to save your sister. You did the only thing you could."_

 _Apollo's face glows with happiness at the confirmation, before he remembers something and his mood comes crashing down again. "She's not my sister anymore. She disowned me. She hates me."_

 _Perseus holds him comfortingly. "As long as you see her as such, she remains your sister. And she does love you. You might not be able to see it, she might not even know it, but rest assured, deep down she truly does love you as much as you love her."_

Athena was starting to get annoyed. She enjoyed solving puzzles, yes, but she didn't like to have so many swirling around in her head, distracting her. Because, really, apart from the fact that it was highly unlikely for someone reborn to look exactly the same, Perseus should definitely _not_ have remembered his past life.

While everyone else sat in thoughtful silence, Artemis was drifting ever deeper in her guilt. She hadn't really been all that nice to him, and yet Apollo seemed to be always looking out for her. First the curse and now this. She was the older sister. Protecting him was supposed to be her job. Instead he had reversed their roles without her noticing. It gave him constantly calling her little sis a whole new meaning.


	7. Chapter 7

**Two Brothers Overlooked**

– I do not own Percy Jackson. All rights belong to Rick Riordan. –

 **Chapter 7**

 _This time it is easy to see that a lot of time has passed. The view zooms in on modern day New York City. A woman most recognize as Sally Jackson and her son have obviously just moved in and are now meeting their neighbours. While Sally introduces her son as Perseus and the neighbours introduce the little blond and blue eyed boy as Octavian, the four- and six-year-old simply stand and stare at one another. Then Octavian reaches out with his hand and says, "Hello Percy." Percy smiles and shakes it, saying, "Hi, Tave."_

The demigods were staring at the screen as if it had just told them Zeus liked fluffy pink teddy bears. Octavian and Percy met each other when they were kids? But they'd given no sign of knowing each other, had seemed to dislike each other since what everyone had assumed to be their very first meeting. It just didn't make sense.

 _Percy and Tave are chasing each other around. Although it can't have been that long since the last scene it is obvious they are already inseparable. Tave's father calls them in to show them a large room divided in two sections. On each side there are an equal amount of pencils, crayons, canvas, and paint along with veritable mountains of paper. Tave's father turns to look at them earnestly. "Soon you will both start having dreams that seem far too real. In this room you can record them any way you want: drawing, painting, writing, whatever you can think of. It is also important that you sort them in a way that seems right to you. When you are older I'll explain the next step."_

"What?" shouted the Romans in surprise. They'd thought Octavian was a mediocre augur at best. And what did Percy have to do with it?

 _By the time a few years have passed the room is filled with different rows of pictures and writing. One row on each side shows familiar scenes: Percy defeating the Minotaur, Tave reading the augury, Percy taking the sky from Artemis, Tave speaking in front of the senate, Percy giving Luke the knife, Tave gutting a stuffed Panda Pillow Pet with Percy and Hazel standing to the side watching, Percy letting go of the ledge and falling into Tartarus with Annabeth, Tave being catapulted into the sky. Though some of the pictures in the other rows are familiar, most show things that didn't happen. And while some of them are good things, they all inevitably end with similar scenes: the camps burning, dead half-bloods littering the ground, Olympus totally destroyed, the gods fading, Kronos ruling from Othrys, Gaia taking over the world. Everything ends in complete disaster._

 _Eight-year-old Tave and six-year-old Percy are once again facing Tave's father. "It's time that you know what this is all about," he says, gesturing to the scenes around them. "I'm sure you already have an idea, but I'm going to tell you the whole truth. These dreams you had, the timelines you constructed with their help, they're all possibilities of the future. Depending on how you behave yourselves, different timelines will end up happening. So choose carefully."_

"Excuse me, but did I hear right? Did that guy just say that it was up to scarecrow to decide the future?" Connor Stoll asked in disbelief.

"Yeah", his brother Travis agreed, "How come we aren't completely screwed?"

 _Percy and Tave are sitting in the room, the timelines spread around them. Determination shows clearly on their faces and makes them appear older than they truly are. "So we're agreed," Tave says, pointing at the familiar timeline. "That's the one that has to happen."_

 _Looking grim, Percy reaches across to a piece of paper with writing at the beginning of the timeline on Tave's side. "Powerhungry augur." he reads. "Are you sure you can cope with being someone so completely different from who you really are?"_

 _Tave reaches across to grab the corresponding paper from Percy's side. "Are you sure you'll be able to cope with dumbing yourself down completely?"_

" _At least I'll be keeping my true fatal flaw. And my life."_

 _Tave sighs. "Percy, we have to do this. It's the only timeline that doesn't end in total destruction."_

 _Percy seems to deflate. "I know. It's just... It's bad enough I'll have to fight Kronos. I know Poseidon's my father now, but Kronos was my first father. He was always there for me, and the way it looks he's also going to be the only one who truly knew me, truly understood me. Despite all that I'll have to send him back to Tartarus. And I'll do it too, but I don't know how I'll cope with loosing you as well."_

"Kelp Head isn't stupid?" Thalia asked. "That has got to be a joke."

"And Octavian willingly died?" Nico added. "I thought it was an accident."

"That would explain why they pretended not to know each other," Annabeth commented thoughtfully. "After all, if they put so much effort into achieving the right timeline, then they wouldn't destroy it for such a simple thing as the way they acted towards each other in public."


	8. Chapter 8

**Two Brothers Overlooked**

– I do not own Percy Jackson. All rights belong to Rick Riordan. –

 **Chapter 8**

 _A few years have passed. Percy is sitting in a car on the train during the quest for Artemis. There is a flash to his right. "Sun West Rails", he says without looking, "Could you have been any more obvious?"_

" _You know I would do anything for her, but I'm limited by the curse. I'm just lucky that I can get away with something indirect every now and then."_

" _I know", Percy sighs, "This quest won't end well. I've looked through all the options. There'll be two deaths. And there's nothing we can do to change it."_

"Percy knew Bianca and Zoe were going to die?" Thalia questioned outraged. "He should have at least tried to save them."

"It's not that easy," Annabeth argued. "He said that there's nothing they could do to change it. Considering this is Percy we are talking about, he is sure to have exhausted every possibility out there,probably even a few impossibilities, looking for a solution. He'd have had to go into that quest knowing two people would die, but that saving them would only make it worse. He beats himself up enough about other peoples death when he really didn't even remotely have anything to do with it. The guilt must have been enormous."

 _Percy, Tave, and Apollo have just finished discussing the plan to deal with Gaia and Apollo is leaving. Percy watches him go and sighs. "I'm worried for him," he confides. "I said he'd finally join my family in this life, and that's true. But it'll only happen when the Olympians have finally truly accepted him or when he fully believes they don't care for him at all. And as much as I wish it'd be the former, it'll almost certainly be the latter. And that could destroy him."_

" _But you'll be there for him."_

" _Yes, which is more than can be said about the last few centuries." Percy shakes his head. "Anyway, I know he'll never crack, no matter what."_

" _Why not?"_

" _Artemis. If he cracks, she'll receive the curse. Apart from the normal consequences, that'd mean she couldn't participate in the hunt anymore, and it's obvious how much that means to her. Still, if he didn't have me and his children and legacies, I'm not sure how he'd cope. Because he cares you know, he really does care."_


	9. Epilogue

**Two Brothers Overlooked**

– I do not own Percy Jackson. All rights belong to Rick Riordan. –

 **Epilogue**

A heavy silence descended on the throne room as they considered all they'd just heard. _"I had hoped you would notice. I had hoped that for once you would look closer, instead of taking everything at face value."_ That was what Percy had said before leaving the throne room. And, in hindsight, he really shouldn't have had to hope for it so desperately, as if it was something highly unlikely, bordering on impossible. Because they'd had all the time to look, to realise what was going on, and, with all of those unexpected things happening through both Kronos' and Gaia's manipulations, they'd also had all the reasons they needed for taking a closer look, for looking beyond what seemed obvious to find what was really going on. And maybe, if that had happened, those two great people who had been looking out for them from the shadows for all that time, even when they only got scorn in return, wouldn't have had to suffer through half as much (at their hands, but no one was really comfortable thinking about that).

But for all that the conditions had practically been shouting at them to do so, they had just ignored all the hints and continued to take everything at face value. And Percy, Apollo, and even Octavian had suffered for it, and suffered greatly. They couldn't change that now, no matter how much they wished to. After all, even in their world of gods, monsters, and six impossible things before breakfast, nothing could change the past.

That didn't mean they couldn't try to make up for their mistakes, their ignorance, and all they had put them through – what little it would be worth in the end. Because nothing would ever make it right, and both would never be able to forget all that had been done to them. Still, they had to at least try. They owed Percy and Apollo that much.


End file.
